A new definition was proposed in the Constitutional Section of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs' Report on a Review of the Administration of the Working Definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Canberra, 1981):

An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he (she) lives.[7]

Membership of the Indigenous people depends on biological descent from the Indigenous people and on mutual recognition of a particular person's membership by that person and by the elders or other persons enjoying traditional authority among those people.[7]

The category "Aboriginal Australia" was coined by the British after they began colonising Australia in 1788, to refer collectively to all people they found already inhabiting the continent, and later to the descendants of any of those people. Until the 1980s, the sole legal and administrative criterion for inclusion in this category was race, classified according to visible physical characteristics or known ancestors. As in the British slave colonies of North America and the Caribbean, where the principle of partus sequitur ventrem was adopted from 1662, children's status was determined by that of their mothers: if born to Aboriginal mothers, children were considered Aboriginal, regardless of their paternity.[8]

In the era of colonial and post-colonial government, access to basic human rights depended upon your race. If you were a "full blooded Aboriginal native ... [or] any person apparently having an admixture of Aboriginal blood", a half-caste being the "offspring of an Aboriginal mother and other than Aboriginal father" (but not of an Aboriginal father and other than Aboriginal mother), a "quadroon", or had a "strain" of Aboriginal blood you were forced to live on Reserves or Missions, work for rations, given minimal education, and needed governmental approval to marry, visit relatives or use electrical appliances.[9]

The Constitution of Australia, in its original form as of 1901, referred to Aboriginals twice, but without definition. Section 51(xxvi) gave the Commonwealth parliament a power to legislate with respect to "the people of any race" throughout the Commonwealth, except for people of "the aboriginal race". The purpose of this provision was to give the Commonwealth power to regulate non-white immigrant workers, who would follow work opportunities interstate.[10] The only other reference, Section 127, provided that "aboriginal natives shall not be counted" in reckoning the size of the population of the Commonwealth or any part of it. The purpose of Section 127 was to prevent the inclusion of Aboriginal people in Section 24 determinations of the distribution of House of Representatives seats amongst the states and territories.[11]

After these references were removed by the 1967 referendum, the Australian Constitution had no references to Aboriginals. Since that time, there have been a number of proposals to amend the constitution to specifically mention Indigenous Australians.[12][13]

The change to Section 51(xxvi) enabled the Commonwealth parliament to enact laws specifically with respect to Aboriginal peoples as a "race". In the Tasmanian Dam Case of 1983, the High Court of Australia was asked to determine whether Commonwealth legislation, whose application could relate to Aboriginal people—parts of the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 (Cth) as well as related legislation—was supported by Section 51(xxvi) in its new form. The case concerned an application of legislation that would preserve cultural heritage of Aboriginal Tasmanians. It was held that Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, together or separately, and any part of either, could be regarded as a "race" for this purpose. As to the criteria for identifying a person as a member of such a "race", the definition by Justice Deane has become accepted as current law.[9] Deane said:

It is unnecessary, for the purposes of the present case, to consider the meaning to be given to the phrase "people of any race" in s. 51(xxvi). Plainly, the words have a wide and non-technical meaning ... . The phrase is, in my view, apposite to refer to all Australian Aboriginals collectively. Any doubt, which might otherwise exist in that regard, is removed by reference to the wording of par. (xxvi) in its original form. The phrase is also apposite to refer to any identifiable racial sub-group among Australian Aboriginals. By "Australian Aboriginal" I mean, in accordance with what I understand to be the conventional meaning of that term, a person of Aboriginal descent, albeit mixed, who identifies himself as such and who is recognised by the Aboriginal community as an Aboriginal.[14]

While Deane's three-part definition reaches beyond the biological criterion to an individual's self-identification, it has been criticised as continuing to accept the biological criterion as primary.[9] It has been found difficult to apply, both in each of its parts and as to the relations among the parts; biological "descent" has been a fall-back criterion.[15]

Eve Fesl, a Gabi-Gabi woman, wrote in the Aboriginal Law Bulletin describing how she and possibly other Aboriginal people preferred to be identified:

The word 'aborigine' refers to an indigenous person of any country. If it is to be used to refer to us as a specific group of people, it should be spelt with a capital 'A', i.e., 'Aborigine'.[16]

While the term 'indigenous' is being more commonly used by Australian Government and non-Government organisations to describe Aboriginal Australians, Lowitja O'Donoghue, commenting on the prospect of possible amendments to Australia's constitution, said:

I really can't tell you of a time when 'indigenous' became current, but I personally have an objection to it, and so do many other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. ... This has just really crept up on us ... like thieves in the night. ... We are very happy with our involvement with indigenous people around the world, on the international forum ... because they're our brothers and sisters. But we do object to it being used here in Australia.[17]

O'Donoghue said that the term indigenous robbed the traditional owners of Australia of an identity because some non-Aboriginal people now wanted to refer to themselves as indigenous because they were born there.[17]

Dean of Indigenous Research and Education at Charles Darwin University, Professor MaryAnn Bin-Sallik, has lectured on the ways Aboriginal Australians have been categorised and labelled over time. Her lecture offered a new perspective on the terms urban, traditional and of Indigenous descent as used to define and categorise Aboriginal Australians:

Not only are these categories inappropriate, they serve to divide us. ... Government's insistence on categorising us with modern words like 'urban', 'traditional' and 'of Aboriginal descent' are really only replacing old terms 'half-caste' and 'full-blood' – based on our colouring.[18]

She called for a replacement of this terminology by that of "Aborigine" or "Torres Strait Islander" – "irrespective of hue".[18] It could be argued that the indigenous tribes of Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea (Indonesia) are more closely related to the Aboriginal Australians than to any tribes found in Indonesia, however due to ongoing conflict in the regions of West Papua, these tribes are being marginalized from their closest relations.[19][20]

Scholars had disagreed whether the closest kin of Aboriginal Australians outside Australia were certain South Asian groups or African groups. The latter would imply a migration pattern in which their ancestors passed through South Asia to Australia without intermingling genetically with other populations along the way.[21]

In a 2011 genetic study by Ramussen et al., researchers took a DNA sample from an early 20th century lock of an Aboriginal person's hair with low European admixture. They found that the ancestors of the Aboriginal population split off from the Eurasian population between 62,000 and 75,000 BP, whereas the European and Asian populations split only 25,000 to 38,000 years BP, indicating an extended period of Aboriginal genetic isolation. These Aboriginal ancestors migrated into South Asia and then into Australia, where they stayed, with the result that, outside of Africa, the Aboriginal peoples have occupied the same territory continuously longer than any other human populations. These findings suggest that modern Aboriginal peoples are the direct descendants of migrants who left Africa up to 75,000 years ago.[22][23] This finding is compatible with earlier archaeological finds of human remains near Lake Mungo that date to approximately 40,000 years ago.

The same genetic study of 2011 found evidence that Aboriginal peoples carry some of the genes associated with the Denisovan (a species of human related to but distinct from Neanderthals) peoples of Asia; the study suggests that there is an increase in allele sharing between the Denisovans and the Aboriginal Australians genome compared to other Eurasians and Africans. Examining DNA from a finger bone excavated in Siberia, researchers concluded that the Denisovans migrated from Siberia to tropical parts of Asia and that they interbred with modern humans in South-East Asia 44,000 years ago, before Australia separated from Papua New Guinea approximately 11,700 years BP. They contributed DNA to Aboriginal Australians along with present-day New Guineans and an indigenous tribe in the Philippines known as Mamanwa.[citation needed] This study makes Aboriginal Australians one of the oldest living populations in the world and possibly the oldest outside of Africa, confirming they may also have the oldest continuous culture on the planet.[24] The Papuans have more sharing alleles than Aboriginal peoples.[clarification needed] The data suggest that modern and archaic humans interbred in Asia before the migration to Australia.[25]

One 2017 paper in Nature evaluated artifacts in Kakadu and concluded "Human occupation began around 65,000 years ago".[26]

A 2013 study by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology found that there was a migration of genes from India to Australia around 2000 BCE. The researchers had two theories for this: either some Indians had contact with people in Indonesia who eventually transferred those genes from India to Australian Aborigines, or that a group of Indians migrated all the way from India to Australia and intermingled with the locals directly. Their research also shows that these new arrivals came at a time when dingoes first appeared in the fossil record, and when Aboriginal peoples first used microliths in hunting. In addition, they arrived just as one of the Aboriginal language groups was undergoing a rapid expansion.[27][28]

In a 2001 study, blood samples were collected from some Warlpiri members of the Northern Territory to study the genetic makeup of the Warlpiri Tribe of Aboriginal Australians, who are not representative of all Aboriginal Tribes in Australia. The study concluded that the Warlpiri are descended from ancient Asians whose DNA is still somewhat present in Southeastern Asian groups, although greatly diminished. The Warlpiri DNA also lacks certain information found in modern Asian genomes, and carries information not found in other genomes, reinforcing the idea of ancient Aboriginal isolation.[29]

Aboriginal Australians are genetically most similar to the indigenous populations of Papua New Guinea, and more distantly related to groups from East India. They are quite distinct from the indigenous populations of Borneo and Malaysia, sharing relatively little genomic information as compared to the groups from Papua New Guinea and India. This indicates that Australia was isolated for a long time from the rest of Southeast Asia, and remained untouched by migrations and population expansions into that area.[29]

The Australian Aborigines are genetically evolved to stand a wide range of environmental temperatures. They were observed to have been able to sleep naked on the ground at night in below freezing conditions in desert conditions where the temperatures easily rose to above 40 degrees Celsius during the day. By the same token, Tasmanian Aborigines would sleep in snow drifts with nothing on apart from an animal skin. According to the April 2017 edition of the National Geographic magazine, it is believed that this ability of Australian Aborigines is due to a beneficial mutation in the genes which regulate hormones that control body temperature.[30]

Aboriginal Australians have disproportionately high rates[31] of severe physical disability, as much as three times that of non-Aboriginal Australians, possibly due to higher rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes and kidney disease. In a study comparing Aboriginal Australians to non-Aboriginal Australians, obesity and smoking rates were higher among Aboriginals, which are contributing factors or causes of serious health issues. The study also showed that Aboriginal Australians were more likely to self-report their health as "excellent/very good" in spite of extant severe physical limitations.

An article on 20 January 2017 in The Lancet describes the suicide rate among Aboriginal Australians as a "catastrophic crisis":

In 2015, more than 150 [Aborigines] died by suicide, the highest figure ever recorded nationally and double the rate of [non-Aborigines], according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Additionally, [Aboriginal] children make up one in three child suicides despite making up a minuscule percentage of the population. Moreover, in parts of the country such as Kimberley, WA, suicide rates among [Aborigines] are among the highest in the world.

The report advocates Aboriginal-led national response to the crisis, asserting that suicide prevention programmes have failed this segment of the population.[32] The ex-prisoner population of Australian Aboriginals is particularly at risk of committing suicide; organisations such as Ngalla Maya have been set up to offer assistance.[33]

One study reports that Aboriginal Australians are significantly affected by infectious diseases, particularly in rural areas.[34] These diseases include strongyloidiasis, hookworm caused by Ancylostoma duodenale,scabies, and streptococcal infections. Because poverty is also prevalent in Aboriginal populations, the need for medical assistance is even greater in many Aboriginal Australian communities. The researchers suggested the use of mass drug administration (MDA) as a method of combating the diseases found commonly among Aboriginal peoples, while also highlighting the importance of "sanitation, access to clean water, good food, integrated vector control and management, childhood immunizations, and personal and family hygiene".[34]

Another study examining the psychosocial functioning of high-risk-exposed and low-risk-exposed Aboriginal Australians aged 12–17 found that in high-risk youths, personal well-being was protected by a sense of solidarity and common low socioeconomic status. However, in low-risk youths, perceptions of racism caused poor psychosocial functioning. The researchers suggested that factors such as racism, discrimination and alienation contributed to physiological health risks in ethnic minority families. The study also mentioned the effect of poverty on Aboriginal populations: higher morbidity and mortality rates.[35]

Aboriginal Australians suffer from high rates of heart disease. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide and among Aboriginal Australians. Aboriginal people develop atrial fibrillation, a condition that sharply increases the risk of stroke, much earlier than non-Aboriginal Australians on average. The life expectancy for Aboriginal Australians is 10 years lower than non-Aboriginal Australians. Technologies such as the Wireless ambulatory ECG are being developed to screen at-risk individuals, particularly rural Australians, for atrial fibrillation.[36]

The incidence rate of cancer was lower in Aboriginal Australians than non-Aboriginal Australians in 2005–2009.[37] However, some cancers, including lung cancer and liver cancer, were significantly more common in Aboriginal people. The overall mortality rate of Aboriginal Australians due to cancer was 1.3 times higher than non-Aboriginals in 2013. This may be because they are less likely to receive the necessary treatments in time, or because the cancers that they tend to develop are often more lethal than other cancers.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a large number of Aboriginal Australians use tobacco, perhaps 41% of people aged 15 and up.[38] This number has declined in recent years, but remains relatively high. The smoking rate is roughly equal for men and women across all age groups, but the smoking rate is much higher in rural than in urban areas. The prevalence of smoking exacerbates existing health problems such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The Australian government has encouraged its citizens, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, to stop smoking or to not start.

In the Northern Territory (which has the greatest proportion of Aboriginal Australians), per capita alcohol consumption for adults is 1.5 times the national average. Nearly half of Aboriginal adults in the Northern Territory reported alcohol usage. In addition to the inherent risks associated with alcohol use, its consumption also tends to increase domestic violence. Aboriginal people account for 60% of the facial fracture victims in the Northern Territory, though they only constitute approximately 30% of its population. Due to the complex nature of the alcohol and domestic violence issue in the Northern Territory, proposed solutions are contentious. However, there has recently been increased media attention to this problem.[39]

Modern Aboriginal Australians living in rural areas tend to have nutritionally poor diets, where higher food costs drive people to consume cheaper, lower quality foods. The average diet is high in refined carbohydrates and salt, and low in fruit and vegetables. There are several challenges in improving diets for Aboriginal Australians, such as shorter shelf lives of fresh foods, resistance to changing existing consumption habits, and disagreements on how to implement changes. Some suggest the use of taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages to discourage their consumption, but this approach is questionable. Providing subsidies for healthy foods has proven effective in other countries, but has yet to be proven useful for Aboriginal Australians specifically.[40]

Dispersing across the Australian continent over time, the ancient people expanded and differentiated into distinct groups, each with its own language and culture.[41] More than 400 distinct Australian Aboriginal peoples have been identified, distinguished by names designating their ancestral languages, dialects, or distinctive speech patterns.[42] Historically, these groups lived in three main cultural areas, the Northern, Southern, and Central cultural areas. The Northern and Southern areas, having richer natural marine and woodland resources, were more densely populated than the Central area.[41]

^Re Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Australia (Intervenor) and the National Aboriginal and Islander Legal Services Secretariat v Queensland and Lewis Francis Wyvill QC[1990] FCA 235, Federal Court (Australia) Full court "Attorney-General (Cth) v Queensland". 43 (1990) 25 FCR 125; (1990) 94 ALR 515 Federal Court of Australia accessed 16 January 2016. The outcome was to fix the Queensland government with responsibility for an "Aboriginal" death in custody, when the deceased was of Aboriginal descent but who had denied being of Aboriginal identity.

1.
Indigenous Australians
–
Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonisation. In present-day Australia these groups are divided into local communities. At the time of initial European settlement, over 250 languages were spoken, it is estimated that 120 to 145 of these remain in use. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English, a population collapse following European settlement, and a smallpox epidemic spreading three years after the arrival of Europeans may have caused a massive and early depopulation. Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag have been among the flags of Australia. The word aboriginal has been in the English language since at least the 16th century, to mean, first or earliest known and it comes from the Latin word aborigines, derived from ab and origo. The word was used in Australia to describe its indigenous peoples as early as 1789 and it soon became capitalised and employed as the common name to refer to all Indigenous Australians. Strictly speaking, Aborigine is the noun and Aboriginal the adjectival form, however, use of either Aborigine or Aboriginal to refer to individuals has acquired negative connotations in some sectors of the community, and it is generally regarded as insensitive and even offensive. The more acceptable and correct expression is Aboriginal Australians or Aboriginal people, the term Indigenous Australians, which also includes Torres Strait Islander peoples, has found increasing acceptance, particularly since the 1980s. The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many groups that often identify under names from local Indigenous languages. Anindilyakwa on Groote Eylandt off Arnhem Land, Palawah in Tasmania and these larger groups may be further subdivided, for example, Anangu recognises localised subdivisions such as Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, Luritja and Antikirinya. It is estimated that prior to the arrival of British settlers, the Torres Strait Islanders possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea, accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation Aboriginal Australians. This has been another factor in the promotion of the inclusive term Indigenous Australians. Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify themselves fully as Torres Strait Islanders, a further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify themselves as having both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal heritage. The Torres Strait Islands comprise over 100 islands which were annexed by Queensland in 1879, eddie Mabo was from Mer or Murray Island in the Torres Strait, which the famous Mabo decision of 1992 involved. The term blacks has been used to refer to Indigenous Australians since European settlement, while originally related to skin colour, the term is used today to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general and refers to people of any skin pigmentation. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as Gary Foley, proudly embraced the term black, the book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community including Robert Jabanungga reflecting on contemporary Aboriginal culture

2.
Australian Aboriginal Flag
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The Australian Aboriginal Flag is a flag that represents Aboriginal Australians. It is one of the flags of Australia, and holds special legal and political status. It is often together with the national flag and with the Torres Strait Islander Flag. The flag was designed for the land rights movement. The flags width is 1.5 times its height and it is horizontally divided into a black region and a red region. A yellow disc is superimposed over the centre of the flag, the Government of Australia granted it Flag of Australia status, under the Flags Act 1953, by proclamation on 14 July 1995. Due to an oversight, the 1995 proclamation was not lodged so that it would continue in force indefinitely. It was therefore almost identically replaced, on 25 January 2008, the design is reproduced in Schedule 1 and described in Schedule 2. The symbolic meaning of the colours is, The flag was first flown on National Aborigines Day in Victoria Square in Adelaide on 12 July 1971. It was also used in Canberra at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy from late 1972, despite strong criticism from both Games officials and Australian team president Arthur Tunstall, Freeman carried both flags again after winning the 400 metres. Nonetheless, since Howard became Prime Minister in 1996 and under subsequent Labor governments, however, this decision was differently criticised by Thomas himself, who said that the Aboriginal flag doesnt need any more recognition. Thomas had sought recognition of his ownership and compensation following the Federal Governments 1995 proclamation of the design. His claim was contested by two others, George Brown and James Tennant, the National Indigenous Advisory Committee campaigned for the Aboriginal flag to be flown at Stadium Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics. SOCOG announced that the Aboriginal flag would be flown at Olympic venues, the flag was flown over the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the march for reconciliation of 2000, and many other events. On the 30th anniversary of the flag in 2001, thousands of people were involved in a ceremony where the flag was carried from the Parliament of South Australia to Victoria Square. Since 8 July 2002, after recommendations of the Councils Reconciliation Committee, the Aboriginal Flag has been flown in Victoria Square. Many buildings in Australia fly the Aboriginal flag as well as the Australian flag, various councils in Australian towns fly the Aboriginal flag from the town halls, such as Bendigo. The first city council to fly the Aboriginal flag was Newcastle City Council in 1977, the Aboriginal flag is sometimes substituted for the Union Flag in the canton of Australias flag in proposed new Australian flag designs

3.
Northern Territory
–
The Northern Territory is a federal Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. It shares borders with Western Australia to the west, South Australia to the south, to the north, the territory is bordered by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Despite its large area—over 1,349,129 square kilometres, the Northern Territorys population of 244,000 makes it the least populous of Australias eight major states and territories, having fewer than half as many people as Tasmania. The archaeological history of the Northern Territory begins over 40,000 years ago when Indigenous Australians settled the region, makassan traders began trading with the indigenous people of the Northern Territory for trepang from at least the 18th century onwards. The coast of the territory was first seen by Europeans in the 17th century, the British were the first Europeans to attempt to settle the coastal regions. After three failed attempts to establish a settlement, success was achieved in 1869 with the establishment of a settlement at Port Darwin. Today the economy is based on tourism, especially Kakadu National Park in the Top End and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in central Australia, the capital and largest city is Darwin. The population is not concentrated in regions but rather along the Stuart Highway. The other major settlements are Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy, residents of the Northern Territory are often known simply as Territorians and fully as Northern Territorians, or more informally as Top Enders and Centralians. With the coming of the British, there were four attempts to settle the harsh environment of the northern coast. The Northern Territory was part of colonial New South Wales from 1825 to 1863, except for a time from February to December 1846. It was part of South Australia from 1863 to 1911, under the administration of colonial South Australia, the overland telegraph was constructed between 1870 and 1872. A railway was built between Palmerston and Pine Creek between 1883 and 1889. The economic pattern of raising and mining was established so that by 1911 there were 513,000 cattle. Victoria River Downs was at one time the largest cattle station in the world, gold was found at Grove Hill in 1872 and at Pine Creek, Brocks Creek, Burrundi, and copper was found at Daly River. On 1 January 1911, a decade after federation, the Northern Territory was separated from South Australia, alfred Deakin opined at this time To me the question has been not so much commercial as national, first, second, third and last. Either we must accomplish the peopling of the territory or submit to its transfer to some other nation. In late 1912 there was growing sentiment that the name Northern Territory was unsatisfactory, the names Kingsland, Centralia and Territoria were proposed with Kingsland becoming the preferred choice in 1913

4.
Queensland
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Queensland is the second-largest and third-most-populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west, to the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. Queensland has a population of 4,750,500, concentrated along the coast, the state is the worlds sixth largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 km2. The capital and largest city in the state is Brisbane, Australias third largest city, often referred to as the Sunshine State, Queensland is home to 10 of Australias 30 largest cities and is the nations third largest economy. Tourism in the state, fuelled largely by its tropical climate, is a major industry. Queensland was first inhabited by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, the first European to land in Queensland was Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606, who explored the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula near present-day Weipa. In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook claimed the east coast of Australia for the Kingdom of Great Britain. The colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 by Governor Arthur Phillip at Sydney, New South Wales at that time included all of what is now Queensland, Queensland was explored in subsequent decades until the establishment of a penal colony at Brisbane in 1824 by John Oxley. Penal transportation ceased in 1839 and free settlement was allowed from 1842, the state was named in honour of Queen Victoria, who on 6 June 1859 signed Letters Patent separating the colony from New South Wales. The 6th of June is now celebrated statewide as Queensland Day. Queensland achieved statehood with the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, the history of Queensland spans thousands of years, encompassing both a lengthy indigenous presence, as well as the eventful times of post-European settlement. The north-eastern Australian region was explored by Dutch, Spanish and French navigators before being encountered by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, the Australian Labor Party has its origin as a formal organisation in Queensland and the town of Barcaldine is the symbolic birthplace of the party. June 2009 marked the 150th anniversary of its creation as a colony from New South Wales. The Aboriginal occupation of Queensland is thought to predate 50,000 BC, likely via boat or land bridge across Torres Strait, during the last ice age Queenslands landscape became more arid and largely desolate, making food and other supplies scarce. This led to the worlds first seed-grinding technology, warming again made the land hospitable, which brought high rainfall along the eastern coast, stimulating the growth of the states tropical rainforests. In February 1606, Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed near the site of what is now Weipa and this was the first recorded landing of a European in Australia, and it also marked the first reported contact between European and Aboriginal Australian people. The region was explored by French and Spanish explorers prior to the arrival of Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III of the United Kingdom on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island, naming Eastern Australia, including Queensland, the Aboriginal population declined significantly after a smallpox epidemic during the late 18th century

5.
Western Australia
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Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Southern Ocean to the south, the state has about 2.6 million inhabitants, around 11% of the national total. 92% of the lives in the south-west corner of the state. The first European visitor to Western Australia was the Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog, the first European settlement of Western Australia occurred following the landing by Major Edmund Lockyer on 26 December 1826 of an expedition on behalf of the New South Wales colonial government. This was followed by the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829, including the site of the present-day capital, york was the first inland settlement in Western Australia. Situated 97 kilometres east of Perth, it was settled on 16 September 1831, Western Australia achieved responsible government in 1890, and federated with the other British colonies in Australia in 1901. Today its economy relies on mining, agriculture and tourism. The state produces 46% of Australias exports, Western Australia is the second-largest iron ore producer in the world. The International Hydrographic Organization designates the body of water south of the continent as part of the Indian Ocean, the total length of the states eastern border is 1,862 km. There are 20,781 km of coastline, including 7,892 km of island coastline, the total land area occupied by the state is 2.5 million km2. Most of the state is a low plateau with an elevation of about 400 metres, very low relief. This descends relatively sharply to the plains, in some cases forming a sharp escarpment. The extreme age of the landscape has meant that the soils are remarkably infertile, even soils derived from granitic bedrock contain an order of magnitude less available phosphorus and only half as much nitrogen as soils in comparable climates in other continents. Soils derived from extensive sandplains or ironstone are even less fertile, nearly devoid of soluble phosphate and also deficient in zinc, copper, molybdenum, the infertility of most of the soils has required heavy application by farmers of chemical fertilisers, particularly superphosphate, insecticides and herbicides. These have resulted in damage to invertebrate and bacterial populations, the grazing and use of hoofed mammals and, later, heavy machinery through the years have resulted in compaction of soils and great damage to the fragile soils. Large-scale land clearing for agriculture has damaged habitats for native flora, large areas of the states wheatbelt region have problems with dryland salinity and the loss of fresh water. The southwest coastal area has a Mediterranean climate and it was originally heavily forested, including large stands of karri, one of the tallest trees in the world. This agricultural region is one of the nine most bio-diverse terrestrial habitats, thanks to the offshore Leeuwin Current, the area is one of the top six regions for marine biodiversity and contains the most southerly coral reefs in the world

6.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840

7.
South Australia
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South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country, with a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres, it is the fourth-largest of Australias states and territories. Other population centres in the state are relatively small, the state comprises less than 8 percent of the Australian population and ranks fifth in population among the six states and two territories. The majority of its people reside in Adelaide, most of the remainder are settled in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River Murray. The states colonial origins are unique in Australia as a settled, planned British province. Official settlement began on 28 December 1836, when the colony was proclaimed at the Old Gum Tree by Governor John Hindmarsh, as with the rest of the continent, the region had been long occupied by Aboriginal peoples, who were organised into numerous tribes and languages. The first British settlement to be established was Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, on 26 July 1836, the guiding principle behind settlement was that of systematic colonisation, a theory espoused by Edward Gibbon Wakefield that was later employed by the New Zealand Company. The goal was to establish the province as a centre of civilisation for free immigrants, promising civil liberties, although its history is marked by economic hardship, South Australia has remained politically innovative and culturally vibrant. Today, it is known for its wine and numerous cultural festivals. The states economy is dominated by the agricultural, manufacturing and mining industries, the state has an increasingly significant finance sector as well. Evidence of human activity in South Australia dates back as far as 20,000 years, with flint mining activity, in addition wooden spears and tools were made in an area now covered in peat bog in the South East. Kangaroo Island was inhabited long before the island was cut off by rising sea levels, thijssen named his discovery Pieter Nuyts Land, after the highest ranking individual on board. The complete coastline of South Australia was first mapped by Matthew Flinders, the land which now forms the state of South Australia was claimed for Britain in 1788 as part of the colony of New South Wales. Although the new colony included almost two-thirds of the continent, early settlements were all on the eastern coast and it took more than forty years before any serious proposal to establish settlements in the south-western portion of New South Wales were put forward. In 1834, the British Parliament passed the South Australia Act 1834, the act stated that 802,511 square kilometres would be allotted to the colony and it would be convict-free. In contrast to the rest of Australia, terra nullius did not apply to the new province, although the patent guaranteed land rights under force of law for the indigenous inhabitants it was ignored by the South Australian Company authorities and squatters. Settlement of seven vessels and 636 people was made at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island. The first immigrants arrived at Holdfast Bay in November 1836, the Colonisation Commissioners intended to establish a police service as soon as misconduct within the increasing population warranted it

8.
Victoria (Australia)
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Victoria is a state in southeast Australia. Victoria is Australias most densely populated state and its second-most populous state overall, most of its population is concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australias second-largest city. Prior to British European settlement, the area now constituting Victoria was inhabited by a number of Aboriginal peoples. With Great Britain having claimed the entire Australian continent east of the 135th meridian east in 1788, Victoria was included in the wider colony of New South Wales. The first settlement in the area occurred in 1803 at Sullivan Bay, and much of what is now Victoria was included in the Port Phillip District in 1836, Victoria was officially created as a separate colony in 1851, and achieved self-government in 1855. Politically, Victoria has 37 seats in the Australian House of Representatives and 12 seats in the Australian Senate, at state level, the Parliament of Victoria consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. Victoria is currently governed by the Labor Party, with Daniel Andrews the current Premier, the personal representative of the Queen of Australia in the state is the Governor of Victoria, currently Linda Dessau. Local government is concentrated in 79 municipal districts, including 33 cities, although a number of unincorporated areas still exist, Victorias total gross state product is ranked second in Australia, although Victoria is ranked fourth in terms of GSP per capita because of its limited mining activity. Culturally, Melbourne is home to a number of museums, art galleries and theatres and is described as the sporting capital of Australia. The Melbourne Cricket Ground is the largest stadium in Australia, and the host of the 1956 Summer Olympics, Victoria has eight public universities, with the oldest, the University of Melbourne, having been founded in 1853. Victoria, like Queensland, was named after Queen Victoria, who had been on the British throne for 14 years when the colony was established in 1851. The first British settlement in the later known as Victoria was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor David Collins at Sullivan Bay on Port Phillip. In the year 1826 Colonel Stewart, Captain S. Wright, fly and the brigs Dragon and Amity, took a number of convicts and a small force composed of detachments of the 3rd and 93rd regiments. Victorias next settlement was at Portland, on the south west coast of what is now Victoria, edward Henty settled Portland Bay in 1834. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman, who set up a base in Indented Head, from settlement the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, a separately administered part of New South Wales. Shortly after the now known as Geelong was surveyed by Assistant Surveyor W. H. Smythe. And in 1838 Geelong was officially declared a town, despite earlier white settlements dating back to 1826, days later, still in 1851 gold was discovered near Ballarat, and subsequently at Bendigo. Later discoveries occurred at sites across Victoria

9.
Indigenous Australian languages
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The Australian Aboriginal languages consist of up to twenty-seven language families and isolates, spoken by Aboriginal Australians of mainland Australia and a few nearby islands. The relationships between these languages are not clear at present, despite this uncertainty the indigenous languages of Australia are collectively covered by the technical term Australian languages. By convention, these do not include the Tasmanian languages or the eastern Torres Strait language Meriam Mer, in the late 18th century, there were about 250 distinct Aboriginal social groupings, and a similar number of languages or varieties. At the start of the 21st century, fewer than 150 Aboriginal languages remain in daily use, the surviving languages are located in the most isolated areas. For example, of the five least endangered Western Australian Aboriginal languages, four belong to the Ngaanyatjarra grouping of the Central, yolŋu languages from north-east Arnhem Land are also currently learned by children. Bilingual education is being used successfully in some communities, seven of the most widely spoken Australian languages, such as Warlpiri and Tiwi, retain between 1,000 and 3,000 speakers. Some Aboriginal communities and linguists show support for learning programs either for language revival proper or for only post-vernacular maintenance, Aboriginal Tasmanians were nearly eradicated early in Australias colonial history, and their languages were lost before much was recorded. Tasmania was separated from the mainland at the end of the Quaternary glaciation, too little is known of their languages for classification, though they seem to have had phonological similarities with languages of the mainland. A common feature of many Australian languages is that they display so-called avoidance speech and these registers share the phonology and grammar of the standard language, but the lexicon is different and usually very restricted. There are also commonly speech taboos during extended periods of mourning or initiation that have led to numerous Aboriginal sign languages, for morphosyntactic alignment, many Australian languages have ergative–absolutive case systems. There are also a few languages which employ only nominative–accusative case marking, a typical Australian phonological inventory includes just three vowels, usually, which may occur in both long and short variants. In a few cases the has been unrounded to give, there is almost never a voicing contrast, that is, a consonant may sound like a at the beginning of a word, but like a between vowels, and either symbol could be chosen to represent it. Australia also stands out as being almost entirely free of fricative consonants, some languages also have three rhotics, typically a flap, a trill, and an approximant, that is, like the combined rhotics of English and Spanish. Besides the lack of fricatives, the most striking feature of Australian speech sounds is the number of places of articulation. Nearly every language has four places in the region, either phonemically or allophonically. This is accomplished through two variables, the position of the tongue, and its shape, there are also bilabial, velar and often palatal consonants, but a complete absence of uvular or glottal consonants. Both stops and nasals occur at all six places, and in some languages laterals occur at all four coronal places. A language which displays the range of stops and laterals is Kalkatungu, which has labial p, m, dental th, nh, lh, alveolar t, n, l, retroflex rt, rn, rl, palatal ty, ny, ly

10.
Australian English
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Australian English is a major variety of the English language, used throughout Australia. Although English has no status in the Constitution, Australian English is the countrys de facto official language and is the first language of the majority of the population. Australian English began to diverge from British English after the founding of the Colony of New South Wales in 1788 and was recognised as being different from British English by 1820. It arose from the intermingling of early settlers from a variety of mutually intelligible dialectal regions of the British Isles. Australian English differs from other varieties of English in vocabulary, accent, pronunciation, register, grammar, the earliest form of Australian English was first spoken by the children of the colonists born into the colony of New South Wales. This first generation of children created a new dialect that was to become the language of the nation, the Australian-born children in the new colony were exposed to a wide range of dialects from all over the British Isles, in particular from Ireland and South East England. The native-born children of the created the new dialect from the speech they heard around them. Even when new settlers arrived, this new dialect was strong enough to blunt other patterns of speech, a quarter of the convicts were Irish. Many had been arrested in Ireland, and some in Great Britain, many, if not most, of the Irish spoke Irish and either no English at all, or spoke it poorly and rarely. There were other significant populations of convicts from non-English speaking part of Britain, such as the Scottish Highlands, anthony Burgess writes that Australian English may be thought of as a kind of fossilised Cockney of the Dickensian era. According to linguist Bruce Moore, the input of the various sounds that went into constructing the Australian accent was from south-east England. Some elements of Aboriginal languages have adopted by Australian English—mainly as names for places, flora and fauna. Many such are localised, and do not form part of general Australian use, while others, such as kangaroo, boomerang, budgerigar, wallaby, other examples are cooee and hard yakka. The former is used as a call, for attracting attention. Cooee is also a distance, if hes within cooee. Hard yakka means hard work and is derived from yakka, from the Jagera/Yagara language once spoken in the Brisbane region, also of Aboriginal origin is the word bung, from the Sydney pidgin English, meaning dead, with some extension to broken or useless. Many towns or suburbs of Australia have also influenced or named after Aboriginal words. The best-known example is the capital, Canberra, named after a local word meaning meeting place

11.
Christian
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A Christian is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christian derives from the Koine Greek word Christós, a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach, while there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term Christian is also used as an adjective to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a sense all that is noble, and good. According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, by 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey Christianity will remain the worlds largest religion in 2050, about half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic, while more than a third are Protestant. Orthodox communions comprise 12% of the worlds Christians, other Christian groups make up the remainder. Christians make up the majority of the population in 158 countries and territories,280 million Christian live as a minority. In the Greek Septuagint, christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ, in other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as Chrétien in French and Cristiano in Spanish. The second mention of the term follows in Acts 26,28, where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle, Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4,16, which believers, Yet if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians, had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames, in the Annals he relates that by vulgar appellation commonly called Christians and identifies Christians as Neros scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome. Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes which is used by the Jewish lawyer Tertullus in Acts 24, the Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes, Notzrim, occurs in the Babylonian Talmud, and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian. A wide range of beliefs and practices is found across the world among those who call themselves Christian, denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of Christianity. Most Baptists and fundamentalists, for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism or Christian Science as Christian, in fact, the nearly 77 percent of Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of Christianities that are far from any collective unity. The identification of Jesus as the Messiah is not accepted by Judaism, the term for a Christian in Hebrew is נוּצְרי, a Talmudic term originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth, today in northern Israel. Adherents of Messianic Judaism are referred to in modern Hebrew as יְהוּדִים מָשִׁיחַיים, the term Nasara rose to prominence in July 2014, after the Fall of Mosul to the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The nun or ن— the first letter of Nasara—was spray-painted on the property of Christians ejected from the city, where there is a distinction, Nasrani refers to people from a Christian culture and Masihi is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Nasrani tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners, another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is Ṣalībī from ṣalīb which refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations

12.
Australian Aboriginal mythology
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Australian Aboriginal myths are the stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples within each of the language groups across Australia. All such myths variously tell significant truths within each Aboriginal groups local landscape, some emerged at their specific sites and stayed spiritually in that vicinity. Others came from somewhere else and went somewhere else, an Australian linguist, R. M. W. In the case of the Atherton Tableland, myths tell of the origins of Lake Eacham, Lake Barrine, geological research dated the formative volcanic explosions described by Aboriginal myth tellers as having occurred more than 10,000 years ago. Pollen fossil sampling from the silt which had settled to the bottom of the confirmed the Aboriginal myth-tellers story. When the craters were formed, eucalyptus forests dominated rather than the current wet tropical rain forests, Dixon observed from the evidence available that Aboriginal myths regarding the origin of the Crater Lakes might be dated as accurate back to 10,000 years ago. Since then, Dixon has assembled a number of examples of Australian Aboriginal myths that accurately describe landscapes of an ancient past. The Lake Eyre myths, telling of the deserts of Central Australia as once having been fertile, well-watered plains, and this oral story matches geologists understanding that there was a wet phase to the early Holocene when the lake would have had permanent water. There are 900 distinct Aboriginal groups across Australia, each distinguished by unique names usually identifying particular languages, dialects, each language was used for original myths, from which the distinctive words and names of individual myths derive. The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia nevertheless observes, One intriguing feature is the mixture of diversity and similarity in myths across the entire continent, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliations booklet, Understanding Country, formally seeks to introduce non-indigenous Australians to Aboriginal perspectives on the environment. Mountains, rivers, waterholes, animal and plant species, link many sacred sites together in a web of Dreamtime tracks criss-crossing the country. Dreaming tracks can run for hundreds, even thousands of kilometres, in addition, such performance often continuously incorporates and mythologises historical events in the service of these social purposes in an otherwise rapidly changing modern world. W. Dixon writes, It is always integral and common and that the Law is something derived from ancestral peoples or Dreamings and is passed down the generations in a continuous line. While. entitlements of particular human beings may come and go, the entitlements of people to places are usually regarded strongest when those people enjoy a relationship of identity with one or more Dreamings of that place. This is an identity of spirit, a consubstantiality, rather than a matter of mere belief, the Dreaming pre-exists and persists, while its human incarnations are temporary. People come and go but the Land, and stories about the Land and this is a wisdom that takes lifetimes of listening, observing and experiencing. There is an understanding of human nature and the environment. Sites hold feelings which cannot be described in physical terms, subtle feelings that resonate through the bodies of these people

13.
Torres Strait Islanders
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Torres Strait Islanders /ˈtɔːrᵻs/ are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are culturally and genetically Melanesian people, as are the people of Papua New Guinea and they are distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, and are generally referred to separately. There are also two Torres Strait Islander communities on the nearby coast of the mainland at Bamaga and Seisia, the indigenous people of the Torres Strait have a distinct culture which has slight variants on the different islands where they live. They are a people, and they trade with people of Papua New Guinea. The culture is complex, with some Australian elements, some Papuan elements, the Islanders seem to have been the dominant culture for many centuries, and neighbouring Aboriginal and Papuan cultures show some Island influence in religious ceremonies and the like. Stories told through this website come from the Margaret Lawrie Collection of Torres Strait Islanders material, archaeological, linguistic and folk history evidence suggests that the core of Island culture is Papuo-Austronesian. Dugong, turtle, crayfish, crabs, shellfish, reef fish and wild fruits and vegetables were all traditionally hunted and collected, traditional foods play an important role in ceremonies and celebrations even when they dont live on the islands. Dugong and turtle hunting as well as fishing are seen as a way of continuing the Islander tradition of being associated with the sea. The inhabitants of Torres Strait have a history of developing stories, crafts. Prominent among these is wame, many different string figures, some extremely elaborate and beautiful, the Western-central Torres Strait Language, or Kala Lagaw Ya, is spoken on the southwestern, western, northern and central islands. It is an Australian Aboriginal language, meriam Mir is spoken on the eastern islands. It is one of the Eastern Trans-Fly languages, otherwise spoken in Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islanders have been administered by a system of elected councils. This is a system based partly on traditional pre-Christian local government, eddie Mabo – Mabo Day is an official holiday in the Torres Shire, celebrated on 3 June. Christine Anu - pop singer and actress Jimi Bani – actor Michael Bani – Former NRL player for North Queensland Cowboys 8 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, patty Mills – Point guard for the San Antonio Spurs and the Australia national team

14.
Aboriginal Tasmanians
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The Aboriginal Tasmanians are the indigenous people of the Australian state of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. In the 20th century the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were thought of as being an extinct cultural. Before British colonisation in 1803, there were an estimated 3, the Palawa population was severely depleted in the 19th century. A number of point to introduced disease as the major cause of the depletion of the 19th century mainland Aboriginal population. Geoffrey Blainey wrote that by 1830 in Tasmania, Disease had killed most of them but warfare, other historians regard the Black War as one of the earliest recorded modern genocides. Benjamin Madley wrote, Despite over 170 years of debate over who or what was responsible for this near-extinction, no consensus exists on its origins, process, however, UN definition, sufficient evidence exists to designate the Tasmanian catastrophe genocide. The survivors were moved to Wybalenna Aboriginal Establishment on Flinders Island, in 1847, the last 47 living inhabitants of Wybalenna were transferred to Oyster Cove, south of Hobart. Two individuals, Truganini and Fanny Cochrane Smith, are considered to have been the last people solely of Tasmanian descent. People crossed into Tasmania approximately 40,000 years, ago via a bridge between the island and the rest of mainland Australia, during the last glacial period. Archaeologists excavating a 600 metre long section of river bank found a number of stone tools. Preliminary dating indicates that the site was occupied from 40,000 BP to 28,000 BP making the site 6,000 years older than the Warreen cave. Tasmania was colonised by successive waves of people from southern Australia during glacial maxima. People migrating from southern Australia into peninsular Tasmania would have crossed stretches of seawater and desert, the archeological, geographic and linguistic record suggests a pattern of successive occupation of Tasmania, and coalescence of three ethnic or language groups into one broad group. Colonial settlers found two main groups in Tasmania upon their arrival, which correlates with the broader nation or clan divisions. Pleistocene Palawa language group - first ethnic and language group in Tasmania - absorbed or displaced by successive invasions except for remnant group on Tasman peninsula, archeological evidence suggests remnant populations on the King and Furneaux highlands being stranded by rising waters - later to die out. After separation from mainland Australia, the Tasmanian people were not able to share any of the new technological advances being made by mainland groups and this made the Aboriginal Tasmanians a people that could flourish with some of the simplest technologies on record. The Tasmanian Aboriginal people extensively used fire for cooking, warmth and clearing vegetation to encourage and their capacity to create fire via the friction method had been questioned by authors in the 20th Century, though a document from 1887 clearly describes fire-lighting techniques used among Tasmanians. The historical evidence indicates their fire making ability, even though they preferred to bear coals when travelling between campsites - a consequence of Tasmanias wet maritime climate

15.
Papuan people
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Papuan is an umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of New Guinea and neighbouring islands, speakers of the Papuan languages. They are often distinguished ethnically and linguistically from Austronesians, speakers of a family introduced into New Guinea about three thousand years ago. Frans Kaisiepo, the 4th Governor of Papua and a National Hero of Indonesia, freddy Numberi, politician and former Indonesian minister. Heather Watson, an English female tennis player, michael Somare, former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. Oktovianus Maniani, an Indonesian professional footballer, peter ONeill, the 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. Nitya Krishinda Maheswari, an Indonesian badminton player and 2014 Asian Games womens doubles gold medalist, raema Lisa Rumbewas, an Indonesian weightlifter and silver medalist at 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics. People of New Guinea Proto-Australoids Papua conflict Stéphane Breton W. G. Lawes, New Guinea And Its People, Popular Science Monthly

16.
Herbert Basedow
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Herbert Basedow was an Australian anthropologist, geologist, politician, explorer and medical practitioner. Basedow was born in Kent Town, South Australia and his early education was in Adelaide, South Australia and Hanover, Germany. After finishing his schooling, Basedow studied science at the University of Adelaide where he majored in geology, Basedow later completed postgraduate studies at several European universities and undertook some medical work in Europe. During his working life, Basedow took part in many geological, exploratory and medical relief expeditions to central. On these expeditions, he took photographs and collected geological and natural history specimens, Basedow was one of the few people of his time involved in recording the traditional life of Australian Aborigines. He also actively lobbied government for treatment of Aboriginal people. Elected at the 1927 election as an independent to the seat of Barossa. He was defeated at the 1930 election but was elected at the 1933 election. During his career, Basedow published widely on anthropology, geology and he also published detailed accounts of some of his expeditions and two major anthropological works on Australian Aborigines. Herbert Basedow was born in Kent Town, South Australia, the youngest son of Martin Peter Friedrich Basedow and his second wife Anna Clara Helena, Martin and Anna were both born in Germany and met after immigrating to Australia. Basedows early education was in Adelaide, the Basedow family visited Germany between 1891 and 1894, and for part of that time Herbert Basedow attended high school in Hanover. He completed his schooling at Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, between 1891 and 1902, Basedow completed a Bachelor of Science degree at the School of Mines, Adelaide, and the University of Adelaide. He majored in geology, but also studied botany and zoology, Basedow was elected an associate member of the Royal Society of South Australia in 1901 and a fellow in 1904. He was also a member, honorary member and fellow of other geographical and geological societies in Australia, Great Britain, in 1905, he joined South Australian Government Geologist Henry Yorke Lyell Brown and mining inspector Lionel Gee on a geological expedition to the Northern Territory. His catalogue was published in 1907, Basedow was a keen photographer, and throughout his career he used photography to record his scientific work and his travels in remote parts of Australia. A set of 200 images taken on the 1903 South Australian Government prospecting expedition are the earliest known photographs by Basedow and he included more than 500 of his photographs in the articles and books he published and used them to illustrate his public lectures. In 1907, Basedow accepted an invitation from German anthropologist Hermann Klaatsch to study in Germany, in Europe, he completed postgraduate studies at several universities, including Heidelberg, Göttingen, Breslau and Zürich, and undertook some medical work. Basedow returned to Australia with a PhD in geology and two postgraduate qualifications in medicine, on his return from Europe in 1910, Basedow entered the geological department of South Australia as Assistant Government Geologist

17.
Indigenous peoples of Australia
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For a more complete list of Indigenous peoples of Australia see List of Indigenous Australian group names, for general information, see Indigenous Australians. There are several hundred Indigenous peoples of Australia, many are groupings that existed before the British colonisation of Australia in 1788, within each country, people lived in clan groups, extended families defined by various forms of Australian Aboriginal kinship. Inter-clan contact was common, as was inter-country contact, but there were strict protocols around this contact, the largest language group people today are the Anangu Pitjantjatjara who live in the area around Uluru and south into the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. The second largest Aboriginal community are the Arrernte people who live in, the third largest are the Anangu Luritja, who live in the lands between the two largest just mentioned. The Aboriginal languages and dialects with the largest number of speakers today are the Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Ngunnawal The Ngunnawal people were the first inhabitants of the area which is now occupied by the city of Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory. The city of Canberra is named after the Ngunnawal word Kambera, many other place names around Canberra are Ngunnawal names, such as Tuggeranong, Ginninderra, Murrumbidgee, the suburb Ngunnawal and many road names. Murrawarri people - see Murrawarri Republic and Murawari language, Alyawarre Alyawarre who live north-east of Alice Springs. In 1980 they lodged a claim, which was handed back to them on 22 October 1992. The size of the land was 2065 km², Anmatjera Anmatjera from an area near Mount Leichhardt, Hann and Reynolds Ranges, and northeast to Central Mount Stuart. Artist Clifford Possum is an Anmatjera man, emily Kngwarreye was also an Anmatjera woman. Arrernte The Arrernte people speak the Upper Arrernte language, and live in the Arrernte area of Central Australia, the population of Arrernte people living on Arrernte land is estimated at 25,000, making it the second largest of all Central Australian Aboriginal countries, after Pitjantjatjara. In most primary schools in Alice Springs, students are taught Arrernte as a compulsory language, future plans are that it will be included as a university subject. Approximately 25% of Alice Springs residents speak Arrernte as their first language, Gurindji Gurindji, who from 1966 to 1975 at Wave Hill Cattle Station had a strike known as The Gurindji Strike. In 1975, the Australian Labor Party government of Gough Whitlam finally negotiated with the Vesteys to give the Gurindji back a portion of their land and this was a landmark in the land rights movement in Australia for Australian Aboriginal people to be given rights to their traditional lands. Kunibidji The Kunibidji, or Gunivugi, people live by the Liverpool River in Arnhem Land and they are Aboriginal people and speak the Ndjébbana language. They hunt dugong, turtle and fish, Luritja Luritja is a name used to refer to several dialects of the Western Desert Language, and thereby also to the people who speak these varieties, and their traditional lands. The Luritja lands include areas to the west and south of Alice Springs, extending around the edge of Arrernte country, the total population of Luritja people is probably in the thousands making them the third largest of the Central Australian Aboriginal populations. It includes the town of Papunya, Murrinh-Patha The Murrinh-Patha are a small group, living inland from the settlement of Wadeye, between the rivers Moyle and Fitzmaurice

18.
Tasmania
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Tasmania is an island state of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is located 240 km to the south of the Australian mainland, the state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 334 islands. The state has a population of around 519,100, just over forty percent of which resides in the Greater Hobart precinct, Tasmanias area is 68,401 km2, of which the main island covers 64,519 km2. Though an island state, due to an error the state shares a land border with Victoria at its northernmost terrestrial point, Boundary Islet. The Bishop and Clerk Islets, about 37 km south of Macquarie Island, are the southernmost terrestrial point of the state of Tasmania, the island is believed to have been occupied by Aboriginals for 40,000 years before British colonisation. It is thought Tasmanian Aboriginals were separated from the mainland Aboriginal groups about 10,000 years ago when the sea rose to form Bass Strait. The conflict, which peaked between 1825 and 1831 and led to more than three years of law, cost the lives of almost 1100 Aboriginals and settlers. The near-destruction of Tasmanias Aboriginal population has been described by historians as an act of genocide by the British. The island was part of the Colony of New South Wales. In 1854 the present Constitution of Tasmania was passed and the year the state received permission to change its name to Tasmania. In 1901 it became a state through the process of the Federation of Australia, the state is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island on 24 November 1642. Tasman named the island Anthony van Diemens Land after his sponsor Anthony van Diemen, the name was later shortened to Van Diemens Land by the British. It was officially renamed Tasmania in honour of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856, Tasmania was sometimes referred to as Dervon, as mentioned in the Jerilderie Letter written by the notorious Australian bushranger Ned Kelly in 1879. The colloquial expression for the state is Tassie, Tasmania is also colloquially shortened to Tas, especially when used in business names and website addresses. TAS is also the Australia Post abbreviation for the state, the reconstructed Palawa kani language name for Tasmania is Lutriwita. The island was adjoined to the mainland of Australia until the end of the last glacial period about 10,000 years ago, much of the island is composed of Jurassic dolerite intrusions through other rock types, sometimes forming large columnar joints. Tasmania has the worlds largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains, the central plateau and the southeast portions of the island are mostly dolerite. Mount Wellington above Hobart is an example, showing distinct columns known as the Organ Pipes

19.
Arnhem Land
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Arnhem Land is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km2, which covers the area of Kakadu National Park. The area covers about 34,000 km2 and has an population of 16,000, of whom 12,000 are Yolngu. The region’s service hub is Nhulunbuy,600 km east of Darwin, other major population centres are Yirrkala, Gunbalanya, Ramingining, and Maningrida. A substantial proportion of the population, which is mostly Aboriginal and this outstation movement started in the early 1980s. Many Aboriginal groups moved to very small settlements on their traditional lands. These population groups have very little western influence culturally speaking, many of the regions leaders have called and continue to call for a treaty that would allow the Yolngu to operate under their own traditional laws. In 2013-14, the region contributed around $1.3 billion or 7% to the Northern Territory’s gross state product. Arnhem Land has been occupied by people for tens of thousands of years and is the location of the oldest-known stone axe. The Gove Peninsula was heavily involved in the defence of Australia during World War II, at least since the 18th century Muslim traders from Makassar visited Arnhem Land each year to trade, harvest, and process sea cucumbers or trepang. This sea slug is highly prized in Chinese cuisine, for folk medicine and this Macassan contact with Australia is the first recorded example of interaction between the inhabitants of the Australian continent and their Asian neighbours. This contact had an effect on local indigenous Australians. The Makassans exchanged goods such as cloth, tobacco, knives, rice, Makassar pidgin became a lingua franca along the north coast among several indigenous Australian groups who were brought into greater contact with each other by the seafaring Makassan culture. These traders from the southwest corner of Sulawesi also introduced the word balanda for white people, in Arnhem Land, the word is still widely used today to refer to white Australians. The Dutch started settling in Sulawesi Island in the early 17th century, archeological remains of Makassar contact, including trepang processing plants from the 18th and 19th centuries, are still found at Australian locations such as Port Essington and Groote Eylandt. The Makassans also planted tamarind trees, after processing, the sea slugs were traded by the Makassans to Southern China. In 2014, an 18th-century Chinese coin was found in the area of Wessel Islands off the coast on a beach on Elcho Island during a historical expedition

20.
Didgeridoo
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It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or drone pipe. Musicologists classify it as a brass aerophone, there are no reliable sources stating the didgeridoos exact age. A modern didgeridoo is usually cylindrical or conical, and can measure anywhere from 1 to 3 m long, most are around 1.2 m long. Generally, the longer the instrument, the lower its pitch or key, however, flared instruments play a higher pitch than unflared instruments of the same length. There are numerous names for the instrument among the Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia, many didgeridoo enthusiasts and some scholars advocate reserving local names for traditional instruments, and this practice has been endorsed by some Aboriginal community organisations. However, in conversation, bilingual Aboriginal people will often use the word didgeridoo interchangeably with the instruments name in their own language. Didgeridoo is considered to be a word of Western invention. A rival explanation, that didgeridoo is a corruption of the Irish language phrase dúdaire dubh or dúidire dúth, is controversial. Dúdaire/dúidire is a noun that may mean, depending on the context, trumpeter, hummer, crooner, long-necked person, puffer, eavesdropper, or chain smoker, while dubh means black and dúth means native. Yiḏaki is one of the most commonly used names, although – strictly speaking – it refers to a type of instrument made. There are numerous other, regional names for the didgeridoo, the following are some of the more common of these. Authentic Aboriginal didgeridoos are produced in traditionally oriented communities in Northern Australia or by makers who travel to Central and they are usually made from hardwoods, especially the various eucalyptus species that are endemic to the region. Generally the main trunk of the tree is harvested, though a branch may be used instead. Aboriginal didgeridoo craftsmen hunt for suitably hollow live trees in areas with obvious termite activity, termites attack these living eucalyptus trees, removing only the dead heartwood of the tree, as the living sapwood contains a chemical that repels the insects. Once a suitably hollow tree is found, it is cut down and cleaned out, the bark is taken off, the trimmed, and the exterior is shaped. This instrument may be painted or left undecorated, a rim of beeswax may be applied to the mouthpiece end. Traditional instruments made by Aboriginal craftsmen in Arnhem Land are sometimes fitted with a sugarbag mouthpiece and this black beeswax comes from wild bees and has a distinctive aroma. Non-traditional didgeridoos can also be made from PVC piping, non-native hard woods, glass, fiberglass, metal, agave, clay, hemp, and even carbon fibre

21.
Mabo v Queensland (No 2)
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Mabo v Queensland was a landmark High Court of Australia decision recognising native title in Australia for the first time. Relevantly, that existing law included indigenous land title, as such, any indigenous land rights which had not been extinguished by subsequent grants by the Crown continued to exist in Australia. In so ruling, the High Court overturned Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd, the action which brought about the decision had been led by Eddie Mabo, David Passi and James Rice, all from the Meriam people. The plaintiffs were represented by Ron Castan, Bryan Keon-Cohen and Greg McIntyre, melbourne barrister Barbara Hocking delivered a paper at that conference entitled Is Might Right. An Argument for the Recognition of Traditional Aboriginal Title to Land in the Australian Courts, Hocking argued that a case should be taken to the High Court of Australia in pursuit of the recognition of native title in Australian common law. Prior to British contact the Meriam people had lived on the islands in an economy based on cultivation. Land on the islands was not subject of public or general community ownership, in Mabo v Queensland the High Court held that this legislation was contrary to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Plaintiffs arguments, The plaintiff argued for a title by reason of long possession. Five judgments were delivered in the High Court, by Justice Brennan, Justice Deane and Justice Gaudron, Justice Toohey, Justice Dawson, the Court purported to achieve all this without altering the traditional assumption that the Australian land mass was settled. Instead, the rules for a settled colony were said to be assimilated to the rules for a conquered colony, fragmentation of proprietary interests, Justice Toohey made the argument that common law possessory title could form the basis for native title claims by indigenous Australians. This has not subsequently been pursued, in response to the judgment, the Parliament of Australia, controlled by the Labor Party led by Prime Minister Paul Keating, enacted the Native Title Act 1993. The NTA established the National Native Title Tribunal to make native title determinations in the first instance, appealable to the Federal Court of Australia, following Wik Peoples v Queensland, Parliament amended the NTA with the Native Title Amendment Act 1998. A straight-to-TV film titled Mabo was produced in 2012 by Blackfella Films in association with the ABC and it provided a dramatised account of the case, focusing on the effect it had on Mabo and his family. The case was referenced as background to the plot in the 1997 comedy The Castle. Lord Paramount Seisin Richard Bartlett, The Proprietary Nature of Native Title 6 Australian Property Law Journal 1 Williams, George, Brennan, Sean, Lynch, blackshield and Williams Australian Constitutional Law and Theory. Mabo and Another v The State of Queensland and Another HCA69,166 CLR186 Mabo, sir Gerard Brennan, convention paper regarding Mabo to an International Conference Papers of Edward Koiki Mabo, held by the National Library of Australia A film about the case

22.
British people
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British people, or Britons, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown dependencies, and their descendants. British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, although early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages, the creation of the united Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity. The notion of Britishness was forged during the Napoleonic Wars between Britain and the First French Empire, and developed further during the Victorian era, because of longstanding ethno-sectarian divisions, British identity in Northern Ireland is controversial, but it is held with strong conviction by unionists. Modern Britons are descended mainly from the ethnic groups that settled in the British Isles in and before the 11th century, Prehistoric, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norse. The British are a diverse, multi-national and multicultural society, with regional accents, expressions. Although none of his own writings remain, writers during the time of the Roman Empire made much reference to them, the group included Ireland, which was referred to as Ierne inhabited by the different race of Hiberni, and Britain as insula Albionum, island of the Albions. The term Pritani may have reached Pytheas from the Gauls, who used it as their term for the inhabitants of the islands. Greek and Roman writers, in the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, name the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland as the Priteni, the origin of the Latin word Britanni. It has been suggested that name derives from a Gaulish description translated as people of the forms. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a name for the British Isles. However, the term Britannia persisted as the Latin name for the island, during the Middle Ages, and particularly in the Tudor period, the term British was used to refer to the Welsh people and Cornish people. At that time, it was the held belief that these were the remaining descendants of the ancient Britons. This notion was supported by such as the Historia Regum Britanniae. Wales and Cornwall, and north, i. e. Cumbria, Strathclyde and this legendary Celtic history of Great Britain is known as the Matter of Britain. The indigenous people of the British Isles have a combination of Celtic, Norse, Anglo-Saxon, oppenheimer continues that the majority of the people of the British Isles share genetic commonalities with the Basques, ranging from highs of 90% in Wales to lows of 66% in East Anglia. Oppenheimers opinion is that. by far the majority of male gene types in the British Isles derive from Iberia, ranging from a low of 59% in Fakenham, Norfolk to highs of 96% in Llangefni, north Wales. The English had been unified under a single state in 937 by King Athelstan of Wessex after the Battle of Brunanburh. However, historian Simon Schama suggested that it was Edward I of England who was responsible for provoking the peoples of Britain into an awareness of their nationhood in the 13th century

23.
Caribbean
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The Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays. These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea, in a wider sense, the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are often included due to their political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the Caribbean islands are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From December 15,1954, to October 10,2010, there was a known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five states. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations, the region takes its name from that of the Caribs, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest. The two most prevalent pronunciations of Caribbean are KARR-ə-BEE-ən, with the accent on the third syllable. The former pronunciation is the older of the two, although the variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer KARR-ə-BEE-ən while North American speakers more typically use kə-RIB-ee-ən, usage is split within Caribbean English itself. The word Caribbean has multiple uses and its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation, the United Nations geoscheme for the Americas accords the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas. Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea, to the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America, politically, the Caribbean may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example, the known as the Caribbean Community contains the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the Atlantic Ocean, are members of the Caribbean Community. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is also in the Atlantic and is a member of the Caribbean Community. According to the ACS, the population of its member states is 227 million people. The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies, Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin and these islands include Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, the Bahamas, and Antigua

24.
Partus sequitur ventrem
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It was derived from the Roman civil law, it held that the slave status of a child followed that of his or her mother. It was widely adopted into the laws of slavery in the colonies, the Latin phrase literally means that which is brought forth follows the womb. The community could require the father to acknowledge illegitimate children and support them, courts wanted the fathers to take responsibility so the community did not have to support the children. Her natural father was an Englishman and a member of the House of Burgesses and he had acknowledged her, had her baptized as a Christian in the Church of England, and arranged for her guardianship under an indenture before his death. Her guardian returned to England and sold the indenture to another man, when he died, the estate classified Key and her child as Negro slaves. Aided by a young English lawyer working as a servant on the plantation, Key sued for her freedom. English colonists were considered subjects of the Crown, but Africans and others, in England, the fact that they were not Christians also caused the Africans to be classified as foreigners. The colonies had no process for naturalizing them as subjects, the courts struggled to define the status of children born to couples of whom one was an English subject and the other a foreigner. The demands of labor led to importing more African slaves as the number of indentured servants declined in the seventeenth century. The legal doctrine of partus was part of law passed in 1662 by the Virginia House of Burgesses. It held that all children borne in this country shall be held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother, as at the time, most bond women were African and considered foreigners, their children likewise were considered foreigners and removed from consideration as English subjects. The racial distinction made it easier to them as other. Slavery became a racial caste associated with Africans regardless of the proportion of English or European ancestry that children inherited from paternal lines, the principle became incorporated into state laws when the colonies achieved independence from Great Britain. Some historians suggest the partus doctrine was based in the needs of a colony with perpetual labor shortages. Conditions were difficult, mortality was high, and the government was having difficulty attracting sufficient numbers of indentured servants, the change also legitimized the rape of slave women by white planters, their sons, overseers and other white men. Their illegitimate mixed-race children were confined to slave quarters unless fathers took specific legal actions on their behalf, the new law in 1662 meant that white fathers were no longer required to legally acknowledge, support, or emancipate their illegitimate children by slave women. Men could sell their children or put them to work, such was the case in the household of Thomas Jeffersons Monticello. Her six mixed-race children from a 12-year relationship with the widower Wayles were three-quarters white, most historians believe that the young widower Jefferson, still only in his 40s, repeated this pattern, taking his young mixed-race slave Sally Hemings as his concubine

25.
Quadroon
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Historically in the context of slave societies of the Americas, a quadroon or quarteron was a mixed-race person with one quarter African and three quarters European ancestry. Similar classifications were octoroon for one black and hexadecaroon for one sixteenth black. Governments incorporated the terms in law defining rights and restrictions, the word quadroon was borrowed from the French quarteron and the Spanish cuarterón, both of which have their root in the Latin quartus, meaning one quarter, i. e. one-fourth. The Spanish cognate cuarterón is sometimes used to someone whose racial origin is three-quarters White and one-quarter Indian. The word octoroon is derived from the Latin root octo-, meaning eight, in Latin America, which had a variety of terms for racial groups, some terms for quadroons were morisco or chino. In Latin America, the terms griffe or sambo were sometimes used for an individual of three-quarters African heritage, or the child of a biracial parent and a fully black parent. The term mulatto was used to designate a person who was biracial, with one black parent and one pure white parent. In some cases, it became a term to refer to all persons of mixed race. As with the use of quadroon, this word was applied to an extent in Australia for those of one-eighth Aboriginal ancestry. Terceron was a term synonymous with octoroon, derived from being three generations of descent from an African ancestor, the term mustee was also used to refer to a person with one-eighth African ancestry. The term mustefino refers to a person with one-sixteenth African ancestry, the terms quintroon or hexadecaroon were also used. Stereotypically, a woman is raised as a white woman in her fathers household. In some cases, she may be unaware of her full ancestry before being reduced to victimization, as in Lydia Maria Childs short story and this stock character allowed abolitionists to reveal the sexual exploitation prevalent in slavery. The topic continues to be a means to race in society. Authors in the 21st century are writing novels set in the 19th century that explore racial permutations. The heroine of James Fenimore Coopers 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans, Cora, is the daughter of a quadroon or octoroon woman who married Coras father, Lt. Colonel Munro. Col. Munro describes Coras mother as descended, remotely, from that class who are so basely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxurious people. When Col. Munro believes that a suitor, Duncan Heyward, has rejected Cora because of her heritage, he chastises the young man

26.
Constitution of Australia
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The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the government of the Commonwealth of Australia operates, including its relationship to the States of Australia. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 became law on 9 July 1900, and entered into force on 1 January 1901. Other pieces of legislation have constitutional significance for Australia, even though the same person, Queen Elizabeth II, is the monarch of both countries, she acts in a distinct capacity as monarch of each. Under Australias common law system, the High Court of Australia and their decisions determine the interpretation and application of the constitution. However, the Constitution has continued to develop since then, with two laws having particularly significant impact on the status of the nation. However, impetus came from Britain and there was only lacklustre local support. These difficulties led to the failure of attempts to bring about federation in the 1850s and 1860s. The Federal Council could legislate on certain subjects, but did not have a permanent secretariat, the absence of New South Wales, the largest colony, also diminished its representative value. By the 1891 conference, significant momentum had been built for the federalist cause, under the guidance of Sir Samuel Griffith, a draft constitution was drawn up. However, these meetings lacked popular support, furthermore, the draft constitution sidestepped certain important issues, such as tariff policy. The draft of 1891 was submitted to colonial parliaments but lapsed in New South Wales, in 1895, the six premiers of the Australian colonies agreed to establish a new Convention by popular vote. The Convention met over the course of a year from 1897 to 1898, the meetings produced a new draft which contained substantially the same principles of government as the 1891 draft, but with added provisions for responsible government. To ensure popular support, the draft was presented to the electors of each colony, after one failed attempt, an amended draft was submitted to the electors of each colony except Western Australia. After ratification by the five colonies, the Bill was presented to the British Imperial Parliament with an Address requesting Queen Victoria to enact the Bill, finally, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1900. Western Australia finally agreed to join the Commonwealth in time for it to be an member of the Commonwealth of Australia. In 1988, the copy of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 from the Public Record Office in London was lent to Australia for the purposes of the Australian Bicentenary. As a result, since Australia was still legally a colony and this was resolved by the Statute of Westminster 1931, adopted by the Commonwealth via the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942. The Statute of Westminster freed the Dominions, including the Commonwealth, legally, this is often regarded as the moment of Australias national independence

27.
Australian House of Representatives
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The Australian House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Australia. It is referred to as the house, with the Senate being referred to as the upper house. The House is almost always dissolved earlier, usually alone but sometimes in a double dissolution of both Houses, a member of the House may be referred to as a Member of Parliament, while a member of the Senate is usually referred to as a Senator. The government of the day and by extension the Prime Minister must achieve, the House of Representatives currently consists of 150 members, elected by and representing single member districts, known as electoral divisions. The number of members is not fixed, but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions, the most recent overall increase in the size of the House, which came into effect at the 1984 election, increased the number of members from 125 to 148. It reduced to 147 at the 1993 election, returned to 148 at the 1996 election, each division elects one member using full-preference Instant-runoff voting. This was put in place after the 1918 Swan by-election, which Labor unexpectedly won with the largest primary vote, the Nationalist government of the time changed the lower house voting system from first-past-the-post to full-preference preferential voting, effective from the 1919 general election. This system has remained in place since, allowing the Coalition parties to safely contest the same seats, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of 1900 established the House of Representatives as part of the new system of dominion government in newly federated Australia. The House is presided over by the Speaker, Members of the House are elected from single member electorates. One vote one value legislation requires all electorates to have approximately the number of voters with a maximum 10% variation. However, the quota for the number of voters in an electorate is determined by the number of voters in the state in which that electorate is found. Meanwhile, all the states except Tasmania have electorates approximately within the same 10% tolerance, voting is by the preferential system, also known as instant-runoff voting. A full allocation of preferences is required for a vote to be considered formal and this allows for a calculation of the two-party-preferred vote. Under Section 24 of the Constitution, each state is entitled to members based on a quota determined from the latest statistics of the Commonwealth. These statistics arise from the census conducted under the auspices of section 51, the parliamentary entitlement of a state or territory is established by the Electoral Commissioner dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senators. This is known as the Nexus Provision, the reasons for this are twofold, to maintain a constant influence for the smaller states and to maintain a constant balance of the two Houses in case of a joint sitting after a double dissolution. The population of state and territory is then divided by this quota to determine the number of members to which each state. Under the Australian Constitution all original states are guaranteed at least five members, the Federal Parliament itself has decided that the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory should have at least one member each

28.
States and territories of Australia
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Australia is a federation of six states, together with ten federal territories. The Australian mainland consists of five of the six federated states, the state of Tasmania is an island about 200 kilometers from the mainland. The remaining seven territories are classified for some purposes as external territories, aside from the Australian Antarctic Territory, which is Australias claim to part of Antarctica, Australia is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area. Since 2015, federal control has also extended to the formerly self-governing territory of Norfolk Island. Three of the territories are inhabited, the others are uninhabited. The term geographic Australia is used by the Australian government to describe the area covered by demographic statistics such as national population figures and this area comprises Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands in addition to the six states and three mainland territories. Norfolk Island is the territory with a native population that is not part of geographic Australia. Both territories were reincorporated as the Northern Territory at the end of this period, from 1923 to 1968, the United Nations Trust Territory of Nauru was under Australian administration, until independence as the Republic of Nauru. From 1949 to 1975, the Territory of Papua and New Guinea was a territory of Australia, the states originated as separate British colonies prior to Federation in 1901. Upon Federation, the six colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, the territories, by contrast, are from a constitutional perspective directly subject to the Commonwealth Government, laws for territories are determined by the Australian Parliament. Most of the territories are directly administered by the Commonwealth Government, in the self-governing territories, the Australian Parliament retains the full power to legislate, and can override laws made by the territorial institutions, which it has done on rare occasions. For the purposes of Australian intergovernmental bodies, the Northern Territory, each state has a Governor, appointed by the Queen, which by convention she does on the advice of the state Premier. The Administrator of the Northern Territory, by contrast, is appointed by the Governor-General, Jervis Bay Territory is the only non-self-governing internal territory. Until 1989, it was administered as if it were a part of the ACT, although residents of the Jervis Bay Territory are generally subject to laws made by the ACT Legislative Assembly, they are not represented in the Assembly. They are represented in the Parliament of Australia as part of the Electoral Division of Fraser in the ACT, in other respects, the territory is administered directly by the Federal Government through the Territories portfolio. The external territory of Norfolk Island possessed a degree of self-government from 1979 until 2015, each state has a bicameral parliament except Queensland, which abolished its upper house in 1922. The lower house is called the Legislative Assembly, except in South Australia and Tasmania, Tasmania is the only state to use proportional representation for elections to its lower house, all others elect members from single member constituencies, using preferential voting. The upper house is called the Legislative Council and is elected from multi-member constituencies using proportional representation

29.
Commonwealth v Tasmania
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Commonwealth v Tasmania 158 CLR1 was a significant Australian court case, decided in the High Court of Australia on 1 July 1983. The case was a decision in Australian constitutional law, and was a significant moment in the history of conservation in Australia. In 1978, the Hydro-Electric Commission, then a body owned by the Tasmanian government, proposed the construction of a dam on the Franklin River. The dam would have flooded the Franklin River, in June 1981 the Labor state government created the Wild Rivers National Park in an attempt to protect the river. In May 1982, a Liberal state government was elected which supported the dam, the federal Liberal government at the time, led by Malcolm Fraser, made offers of compensation to Tasmania, however they were not successful in stopping the dams construction. In November 1982, UNESCO declared the Franklin area a World heritage site, during the 1983 federal election, the Labor party under Bob Hawke had promised to intervene and prevent construction of the dam. The Tasmanian government challenged these actions, arguing that the Australian Constitution gave no authority to the government to make such regulations. In May and June 1983, both put their case to the High Court of Australia. The case revolved around several major issues, the most important being the constitutional validity of the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983. The division of powers between the Australian federal government and the state governments is defined mainly by section 51 of the Australian constitution. The federal government had taken a range of actions, which they claimed were authorised under specific subsections of section 51, the Tasmanian government disputed these claims. Section 51 of the Australian Constitution gives the parliament the power to make laws with respect to external affairs. The Tasmanian government opposed this action, allowing the federal government such broad new powers would infringe on the States power to legislate in many areas, and would upset the federal balance. Defining which affairs were of “international character” was a task for the court. However, Justice Mason recognised that the external power was specifically intended to be ambiguous. When the Constitution came into effect in 1901, there were few international organizations such as the United Nations in existence, however, in modern times, there are many more areas in which nations cooperate. It is important to note that the decisions of UNESCO in designating World heritage sites have no binding force upon any government, however, the ratification of the Convention could be seen as a commitment to upholding its aims, and an acceptance of obligations under it. Section 51 provides that the government has powers to make laws regarding foreign, trading

30.
High Court of Australia
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The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. The High Court is mandated by Constitution section 71, which vests in it the power of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Court was constituted by, and its first members were appointed under and it now operates under Constitution sections 71 to 75, the Judiciary Act, and the High Court of Australia Act 1979. It is composed of seven Justices, the Chief Justice of Australia, currently Susan Kiefel and they are appointed by the Governor-General of Australia, on the advice of the federal government, and under the constitution must retire at age 70. Since 1979, The High Court has been located in Canberra, the majority of its sittings are held in the High Court building, situated in the Parliamentary Triangle, overlooking Lake Burley Griffin. With an increasing utilisation of video links, sittings are also held in the state capitals. The High Court exercises both original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction, the High Court is the court of final appeal with the ability to interpret the common law for the whole of Australia, not just the state or territory in which the matter arose. The High Courts broad jurisdiction is similar to that of the Supreme Court of Canada, as such, the court is able to develop the common law consistently across all the states and territories. This role, alongside its role in constitutional interpretation, is one of the courts most significant and this broad array of jurisdiction enables the High Court to take a leading role in Australian law and contributes to a consistency and uniformity among the laws of the different states. The original jurisdiction of the High Court refers to matters that are heard in the High Court. The Constitution confers actual and potential original jurisdiction, Section 75 of the Constitution confers original jurisdiction in regard to all matters, The conferral of original jurisdiction creates some problems for the High Court. For example, challenges against immigration-related decisions are brought against an officer of the Commonwealth within the original jurisdiction of the High Court. However, the inclusion of constitutional matters in section 76, rather than section 75, in practice, section 75 and section 75 are broad enough that many constitutional matters would still be within jurisdiction. The 1998 Constitutional Convention recommended an amendment to the constitution to prevent the possibility of the jurisdiction being removed by Parliament, failure to proceed on this issue suggests that it was considered highly unlikely that Parliament would ever take this step. The requirement of a matter in section 75 and section 76 of the means that a concrete issue must need to be resolved. The High Courts appellate jurisdiction is defined under Section 73 of the Constitution, however, section 73 allows the appellate jurisdiction to be limited with such exceptions and subject to such regulations as the Parliament prescribes. Parliament has prescribed a large limitation in section 35A of the Judiciary Act 1903 and this requires special leave to appeal. Special leave is granted only where a question of law is raised that is of public importance, therefore, while the High Court is the final court of appeal, it cannot be considered a general court of appeal

31.
William Deane
–
Sir William Patrick Deane AC, KBE, QC is a former Australian judge and was the 22nd Governor-General of Australia. William Deane was born in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda and he was educated at Catholic schools, including St Josephs College, Hunters Hill, and at the University of Sydney, where he graduated in arts and law. He also attended the Hague Academy of International Law, after graduation, Deane worked in the federal Attorney-Generals Department in Canberra and at the law firm Minter Simpson. He also travelled to Europe to study international law and he was called to the Sydney Bar in 1957 and also lectured in law at university. During this time, Deane was active in the Catholic community, in 1955 he briefly became a member of the Democratic Labor Party, a predominantly Catholic and anti-Communist breakaway from the Australian Labor Party. In June 1982 he was appointed to the High Court of Australia and he received a knighthood in August 1982. On the court he formed part of the majority which recognised native title in the landmark Mabo case of 1992. In August 1995, the Labor Prime Minister, Paul Keating, Deane retired from the High Court in November and was sworn in as Governor-General on 16 February 1996. Less than a month later the Liberal/National coalition led by John Howard defeated Keatings government in the Australian federal election,1996, Deane officially opened the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney. He is also a Patron of Reconciliation Australia and of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, Government appointed him as Patron of the National Capitals 2013 Centenary Celebrations. He is a former Patron and Chair of international aid-organization CARE Australia, Deane was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 10 August 1982, a few weeks after being appointed to the High Court. On Australia Day 1988, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia and he is also a Knight Commander with Star of the Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great and a Knight of the Venerable Order of St. John. In 2001, Deane was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for his consistent support of vulnerable and disadvantaged Australians, governor General of Australia – Official biography of Sir William Deane and Lady Deane, published by Government House, Canberra. A Mirror to the People, documentary film on the Office of Governor-General of Australia, featuring Deane, Zelman Cowen, High Court biography Retrieved 20 August 2014

32.
Lowitja O'Donoghue
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Lowitja Lois ODonoghue Smart, AC, CBE, DSG is an Aboriginal Australian retired public administrator. In 1990-1996 she was the chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Lois ODonoghue was born in 1932 in the remote Aboriginal community of Indulkana and her father was a stockman of Irish Australian descent and her mother was a member of the Pitjantjatjara aboriginal tribe of northwest South Australia. Their four youngest children were born here, including Lois on 1 August 1932, from here they were moved to the recently opened Colebrook Home in Quorn run by the Mission. In 1979 she married Gordon Smart, an orderly at the Repatriation Hospital whom she had first met in 1964. Following her retirement, she added the name Lowitja to her existing legal name, Lois ODonoghue Smart. According to ODonoghue she was happy living at Colebrook and said she received a sound education both there and at the Quorn Primary School. The Quorn community at large actively encouraged children from the home to participate in local events, only a few people objected to the integration. In 1944 Colebrook Home moved to Eden Hills, South Australia due to water shortages, enabling her to attend Unley High School, a local public school. She was taught up until the Leaving Certificate standard but did not sit for the examination, at Colebrook Home the elder children assisted in taking care of younger children. Thus, with experience, at the age of 16. While attending Baptist church there she was persuaded by the Matron of the South Coast District Hospital to take up nursing as a career, from 1950–53 ODonoghue worked as a nursing aide in Victor Harbor. The small hospital did not run a comprehensive training course, so with the support and assistance of the Matron. After a long struggle to win admission to a training hospital, the Royal Adelaide Hospital policy at that time was to only take nursing students who had obtained their Leaving Certificate so initially they would not consider taking her. Fortunately the Hospital shortly afterwards introduced a scheme to allow deserving students to be accepted without the educational qualifications. In 1954, she was in the first intake of unqualified students to attend the Royal Adelaide Hospital which offered good nursing career prospects and she qualified as a nurse and worked at the Royal Adelaide until 1961, being appointed a charge nurse just before leaving. She spent time with the Baptist Church working in Assam, northern India as a nurse relieving missionaries who were taking back in Australia. Due to the nearby Sino-Indian War she was advised by the Australian government to evacuate to Calcutta, after returning in 1962, she worked as an Aboriginal Liaison Officer with the South Australian Department of Education

33.
Torres Strait Islander
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Torres Strait Islanders /ˈtɔːrᵻs/ are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are culturally and genetically Melanesian people, as are the people of Papua New Guinea and they are distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, and are generally referred to separately. There are also two Torres Strait Islander communities on the nearby coast of the mainland at Bamaga and Seisia, the indigenous people of the Torres Strait have a distinct culture which has slight variants on the different islands where they live. They are a people, and they trade with people of Papua New Guinea. The culture is complex, with some Australian elements, some Papuan elements, the Islanders seem to have been the dominant culture for many centuries, and neighbouring Aboriginal and Papuan cultures show some Island influence in religious ceremonies and the like. Stories told through this website come from the Margaret Lawrie Collection of Torres Strait Islanders material, archaeological, linguistic and folk history evidence suggests that the core of Island culture is Papuo-Austronesian. Dugong, turtle, crayfish, crabs, shellfish, reef fish and wild fruits and vegetables were all traditionally hunted and collected, traditional foods play an important role in ceremonies and celebrations even when they dont live on the islands. Dugong and turtle hunting as well as fishing are seen as a way of continuing the Islander tradition of being associated with the sea. The inhabitants of Torres Strait have a history of developing stories, crafts. Prominent among these is wame, many different string figures, some extremely elaborate and beautiful, the Western-central Torres Strait Language, or Kala Lagaw Ya, is spoken on the southwestern, western, northern and central islands. It is an Australian Aboriginal language, meriam Mir is spoken on the eastern islands. It is one of the Eastern Trans-Fly languages, otherwise spoken in Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islanders have been administered by a system of elected councils. This is a system based partly on traditional pre-Christian local government, eddie Mabo – Mabo Day is an official holiday in the Torres Shire, celebrated on 3 June. Christine Anu - pop singer and actress Jimi Bani – actor Michael Bani – Former NRL player for North Queensland Cowboys 8 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, patty Mills – Point guard for the San Antonio Spurs and the Australia national team

34.
Charles Darwin University
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Charles Darwin University is an Australian public university with about 22,083 students as of 2011. It is a member of the group of 7 Innovative Research Universities in Australia. CDU has campuses in the Darwin suburb of Casuarina, the city of Palmerston, a new Waterfront Campus opened in 2015 in the Darwin CBD which contains the Business School. The University offers a range of Higher Education degrees and Vocational Education and Training courses with flexible study options, including part-time, external. Charles Darwin University has evolved over the years through the merging of several education institutions. Darwin Community College, founded in 1974 and renamed Darwin Institute of Technology in 1984, was a combined College of Advanced Education and it was situated on what is now the Casuarina Campus, although it used other buildings at various times in Darwin. By the time of the formation of the Northern Territory University, it gave degrees in Arts, Education, Business, the Menzies School of Health Research was established in 1985 as a body corporate of the Northern Territory Government under the Menzies Act 1985. This Act was amended in 2004 to formalise the relationship with Charles Darwin University, Menzies is now a major partner of CDU and constitutes a school within the University on campus at CDU Casuarina offering post-graduate degrees and higher degrees by research. On several occasions the Government of the Northern Territory requested the Australian Commonwealth Government to finance a university in the Territory, the response was always that the population was too small. In 1985, it took the step of financing the University College of the Northern Territory itself for a five-year period from 1987 to 1991. The college was governed by a Council, chaired by Austin Asche and led by a Warden, Professor Jim Thomson, an arrangement was made with the University of Queensland that the College would awards degrees from that institution. Staff were recruited in 1986 and housed in the old Darwin Primary School buildings, just prior to taking the first students in February 1987, the College moved to converted building of the former Darwin Hospital at Myilly Point in Darwin. The former Nurses Hostel became a student residence, named International House, the College had two Faculties, of Arts and Science. It awarded, through the University of Queensland link, the first Doctor of Philosophy degrees in the Northern Territory, Centralian College was founded in 1993 from the merger of Sadadeen Senior Secondary College and the Alice Springs College of TAFE. During its life, the college delivered senior secondary, TAFE and Higher Education through its campus in Alice Springs. Centralian College is a senior secondary school, for students from Year 10 to Year 12. Centralian College shares its campus with the Charles Darwin University campus of Alice Springs, Centralian College uses the universitys facilities and students attending Centralian College can participate in VET courses offered by CDU. The Northern Territory University was founded in January 1989 by a merger of the Darwin Institute of Technology, the merger was controversial, but forced by the so-called Dawkins Revolution under Federal Minister of Education John Dawkins

35.
Papua New Guinea
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Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua, Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. There are 852 known languages in the country, of which 12 have no known living speakers, most of the population of more than 7 million people live in customary communities, which are as diverse as the languages. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18 percent of its live in urban centres. The country is one of the worlds least explored, culturally and geographically and it is known to have numerous groups of uncontacted peoples, and researchers believe there are many undiscovered species of plants and animals in the interior. Papua New Guinea is classified as an economy by the International Monetary Fund. Strong growth in Papua New Guineas mining and resource sector led to the becoming the sixth fastest-growing economy in the world in 2011. Growth was expected to slow once major resource projects came on line in 2015, mining remains a major economic factor, however. Local and national governments are discussing the potential of resuming mining operations in Panguna mine in Bougainville Province, nearly 40 percent of the population lives a self-sustainable natural lifestyle with no access to global capital. Most of the still live in strong traditional social groups based on farming. Their social lives combine traditional religion with modern practices, including primary education, at the national level, after being ruled by three external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea established its sovereignty in 1975. This followed nearly 60 years of Australian administration, which started during the Great War and it became an independent Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in its own right. Archaeological evidence indicates that humans first arrived in Papua New Guinea around 42,000 to 45,000 years ago and they were descendants of migrants out of Africa, in one of the early waves of human migration. Agriculture was independently developed in the New Guinea highlands around 7000 BC, a major migration of Austronesian-speaking peoples to coastal regions of New Guinea took place around 500 BC. This has been correlated with the introduction of pottery, pigs, in the 18th century, traders brought the sweet potato to New Guinea, where it was adopted and became part of the staples. Portuguese traders had obtained it from South America and introduced it to the Moluccas, the far higher crop yields from sweet potato gardens radically transformed traditional agriculture and societies. Sweet potato largely supplanted the previous staple, taro, and resulted in a significant increase in population in the highlands. In 1901, on Goaribari Island in the Gulf of Papua, missionary Harry Dauncey found 10,000 skulls in the islands Long Houses, traders from Southeast Asia had visited New Guinea beginning 5,000 years ago to collect bird of paradise plumes

36.
Western New Guinea
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Western New Guinea, formerly known as Irian Jaya, is the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea, lying to the west of the nation of Papua New Guinea. The territory is considered to include smaller nearby islands including Biak, the region is predominantly dense forest where numerous traditional tribes live such as the Dani of the Baliem Valley, although the majority of the population live in or near coastal areas. The largest city in the region is Jayapura, the official and most commonly spoken language is Indonesian. Estimates of the number of languages in the region range from 200 to over 700, with the most widely spoken including Dani, Yali, Ekari. The predominant religion is Christianity followed by Islam, the main industries include agriculture, fishing, oil production, and mining. The territory has been part of Indonesia since May 1963, human habitation is estimated to have begun between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. The Netherlands claimed the region and commenced work in the nineteenth century. The region was annexed by Indonesia in the 1960s, following the 1998 commencement of reforms across Indonesia, Papua and other Indonesian provinces received greater regional autonomy. In 2001, Special Autonomy status was granted to Papua province, although to date, implementation has been partial, the region was administered as a single province until 2003, when it was split into the provinces of Papua and West Papua. Speakers align themselves with a political orientation when choosing a name for the half of the island of New Guinea. West Papua, which is not the name for the western half of the island, is preferred by ethnic Papuans. The region has had the names of Netherlands New Guinea, West New Guinea, West Irian, Irian Jaya. Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid considered his use of the name Papua in 2002 as a concession to the West Papuans. Since 2003, western New Guinea has had two provinces, the province of West Papua on the west, and the province of Papua on the east, officials and administrators refer to the province when they say West Papua, independence activists mean the whole of western New Guinea. The region is 1,200 kilometres from east to west and 736 kilometres from north to south and it has an area of 420,540 square kilometres, which equates to approximately 22% of Indonesias land area. The border with Papua New Guinea mostly follows the 141st meridian east, the island of New Guinea was once part of the Australian landmass and lie on the Sahul. The collision between the Indo-Australian Plate and Pacific plate resulting in the Maoke Mountains run through the centre of the region and are 600 km long and 100 km across. The range includes about ten peaks over 4,000 metres, including Puncak Jaya, Puncak Mandala, the range ensures a steady supply of rain from the tropical atmosphere

37.
Indonesia
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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, Java, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, tin, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, China, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde

38.
Papua conflict
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The Indonesian Government restricts foreign access to the Papua and West Papua provinces due to sensitivities regarding its suppression of Papuan nationalism. The nationalist Indonesian government argued that it was the state to the whole of the Dutch East Indies. The Netherlands argued that the Papuans were ethnically different and that the Netherlands would continue to administer the territory until it was capable of self-determination. The legitimacy of the vote is hence disputed by independence activists, the Indonesian government is accused of human rights abuses, such as attacks on OPM-sympathetic civilians and jailing people who raise the West Papuan National Morning Star flag for treason. As of 2010,13,500 Papuan refugees live in exile in the independent state of Papua New Guinea. As a result, the Papua New Guinea Defence Force has set up patrols along PNGs western border to prevent infiltration by the OPM, additionally, the PNG government has been expelling resident border crossers and making a pledge of no anti-Indonesian activity a condition for migrants stay in PNG. Since the late 1970s, the OPM have made threats against PNG business projects. The PNGDF has performed joint border patrols with Indonesia since the 1980s, in 2004, the UK based Free West Papua Campaign was set up by exiled West Papuan leader Benny Wenda to encourage the UN to hold an Independence Referendum in West Papua. The Campaign has growing International support and the backing of notable figures such as Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in 2012, the Campaign issued an arrest warrant for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his state visit to the UK in October–November that year. Yudhoyono was protested against everywhere he went in London and regularly saw West Papuan National Flags of Independence which are illegal in Indonesia,15 August 1962, New York Agreement by Kingdom of the Netherlands, Republic of Indonesia and United Nations. Region of West Papua submitted by Netherlands to UN temporary authority, implementation of Indonesian governance was followed by sporadic fighting between Indonesian and pro-Papuan forces until 1969. 1966–67, Aerial bombing of Arfak Mountains, jan–Mar 1967, Aerial bombing of Ayamaru and Teminabuan areas. 1,500 alleged dead in Ayamaru, Teminabuan and Inanuatan, April 1969, Aerial bombing of Wissel Lake District,14,000 survivors escape into the jungle. July–August 1969, Act of Free Choice / PEPERA determines West Papua Region as sovereign territory of Republic of Indonesia, June 1971, Henk de Mari reported that 55 men from two villages in North Biak were forced to dig their own graves before being shot. Published in Dutch daily De Telegraaf Oct 1974, unknown,500 Papuan corpses were found in jungle Lereh District, south west of Sentani Airport, Jayapura region. 1974, In North Biak,45 Papuans were killed,1975, In Biak, at least 41 people from Arwam and Rumbin villages were killed. 1977–78, Aerial bombing of Baliem Valley, apr 1978, Six unidentifiable bodies were discovered in the Dosai district of Jayapura. May 1978, Five OPM leaders surrendered to save the village they were caught in and they were beaten to death with red hot iron bars and their bodies thrown into a pit latrine

39.
History of Indigenous Australians
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The history of Aboriginal Australians is thought to have spanned 30,000 to 45,000 years, although some estimates have put the figure at up to 60,000 years before European settlement. The Aboriginal Australians lived with a dependence on the land. Each group developed skills for the area in which they would live – hunting or fishing or gathering, in the early 1900s it was commonly believed that the Indigenous population of Australia was going to become extinct. There are no clear tribes or an accepted origin of the people of Australia. Although they likely migrated to Australia through Southeast Asia they are not demonstrably related to any known Asian or Polynesian population. It is believed that the first human migration to Australia was achieved when this landmass formed part of the Sahul continent and it is also possible that people came by island hopping via an island chain between Sulawesi and New Guinea and the other reaches North Western Australia via Timor. The exact timing of the arrival of the ancestors of the Aboriginal Australians has been a matter of dispute among archaeologists, the most generally accepted date for first arrival is between 40, 000–80,000 years BP. Near Penrith in New South Wales, since 1971 numerous Aboriginal stone tools have been found in Cranebrook Terraces gravel sediments having dates of 45,000 to 50,000 years BP. When these results were new they were controversial, but more recent dating of the strata in 1987 and 2003 has corroborated these dates. A48,000 BC date is based on a few sites in northern Australia dated using thermoluminescence, a large number of sites have been radiocarbon dated to around 38,000 BC, leading some researchers to doubt the accuracy of the thermoluminescence technique. Radiocarbon dating is limited to an age of around 40,000 years. Some estimates have given as widely as from 30,000 to 68,000 BC. Earlier dates are requiring new such as optically stimulated luminescence and accelerator mass spectrometry. Charles Dortch has dated recent finds on Rottnest Island, Western Australia at 70,000 years BP, the rock shelters at Malakunanja II and of Nauwalabila I show evidence of used pieces of ochre – evidence for paint used by artists 60,000 years ago. Using OSL Rhys Jones has obtained a date for stone tools in these horizons dating from 53, thermoluminescence dating of the Jinmium site in the Northern Territory suggested a date of 200,000 BCE. Although this result received wide coverage, it is not accepted by most archaeologists. Only Africa has older physical evidence of habitation by modern humans, humans reached Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago by migrating across a land bridge from the mainland that existed during the last ice age. After the seas rose about 12,000 years ago and covered the land bridge, short statured aboriginal tribes inhabited the rainforests of North Queensland, of which the best known group is probably the Tjapukai of the Cairns area

40.
Prehistory of Australia
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This period is estimated to have lasted between 40,000 and 60,000 years. This era is referred as prehistory rather than history because there are no remaining records of human events before 1788. There is considerable discussion among archeologists as to the route taken by the first migrants to Australia, migration took place during the closing stages of the Pleistocene, when sea levels were much lower than they are today. Repeated episodes of extended glaciation during the Pleistocene epoch resulted in decreases of sea levels by more than 100 metres in Australasia, people appear to have arrived by sea during a period of glaciation, when New Guinea and Tasmania were joined to the continent of Australia. Nevertheless, the sea presented a major obstacle so it is theorised that these ancestral people reached Australia by island hopping. One follows a chain between Sulawesi and New Guinea and the other reaches North Western Australia via Timor. Rupert Gerritsen has suggested a theory, involving accidental colonization as a result of tsunamis. The journey still required sea travel however, making them amongst the worlds earlier mariners, given that the likely landfall regions have been under around 50 metres of water for the last 15,000 years, it is unlikely that the timing will ever be established with certainty. The minimum widely accepted timeframe for the arrival of humans in Australia is placed at least 40,000 years ago, many sites dating from this time period have been excavated. In Arnhem Land the Malakunanja II rock shelter has been dated to around 55,000 years old, radiocarbon dating suggests that they lived in and around Sydney for at least 30,000 years. In an archaeological dig in Parramatta, Western Sydney, it was found that the Aboriginals used charcoal, stone tools and possible ancient campfires. Near Penrith, a far suburb of Sydney, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Cranebrook Terraces gravel sediments having dates of 45,000 to 50,000 years BP. This would mean there was human settlement in Sydney earlier than thought. Archaeological evidence indicates human habitation at the upper Swan River, Western Australia by about 40,000 years ago, Tasmania, which was connected to the continent by a land bridge, was inhabited at least 30,000 years ago. Others have claimed that some sites are up to 60,000 years old, palynological evidence from South Eastern Australia suggests an increase in fire activity dating from around 120,000 years ago. This has been interpreted as representing human activity, but the dating of the evidence has been strongly challenged, charles Dortch has identified chert and calcrete flake stone tools, found at Rottnest Island in Western Australia, as possibly dating to at least 50,000 years ago. The sea level stabilised to near its present levels about 6000 years ago and it is unknown how many populations settled in Australia prior to European colonisation. Both trihybrid and single-origin hypotheses have received extensive discussion, human genomic differences are being studied to find possible answers, but there is still insufficient evidence to distinguish a wave invasion model from a single settlement one

41.
Early human migrations
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Earliest human migrations and expansions of archaic and modern humans across continents began 2 million years ago with the migration out of Africa of Homo erectus. This was followed by the migrations of other humans including H. heidelbergensis. Finally, Homo sapiens ventured out of Africa around 100,000 years ago, spread across Asia around 60,000 years ago and arrived on new continents, cultural and ethnic migrations are estimated by combining archaeogenetics and comparative linguistics. Key sites for this early migration out of Africa are Riwat in Pakistan, Ubeidiya in the Levant, China was populated as early as 1.66 Mya based on stone artifacts found in the Nihewan Basin. The archaeological site of Xihoudu in Shanxi Province is the earliest recorded use of fire by Homo erectus, Southeast Asia was reached about 1.7 million years ago. Western Europe was first populated around 1.2 million years ago, robert G. Bednarik has suggested that Homo erectus may have built rafts and sailed oceans, a theory that has raised some controversy. Homo sapiens seems to have appeared in East Africa around 200,000 years ago, the oldest individuals found left their marks in the Omo remains and the Homo sapiens idaltu, that was found at the Middle Awash site in Ethiopia. When modern humans reached the Near East 125,000 years ago, evidence suggests they retreated back to Africa, as their settlements were replaced by Neanderthals. It is now believed that the first modern humans to spread east across Asia left Africa about 75,000 years ago across the Bab el Mandib connecting Ethiopia and Yemen. H. sapiens reached Europe around 43,000 years ago, East Asia was reached by 30,000 years ago. Colonization of the Pacific islands of Polynesia began around 1300 BC, the ancestors of Polynesians left Taiwan around 5,200 years ago. More recent migrations of language and culture groups within the species are also studied and hypothetised. The people of the Afro-Asiatic language family seem to have reached Africa in 6,200 BC, from there they spread around the world. There is evidence from mitochondrial DNA that modern humans have passed through at least one genetic bottleneck, climatological and geological evidence suggests evidence for the bottleneck. The explosion of Lake Toba created a 1,000 year cold period, as a result of the largest volcanic eruption of the Quaternary and it has been estimated that as few as 15,000 humans survived. In such circumstances genetic drift and founder effects may have been maximised, the greater diversity amongst African genomes may be in part due to the greater prevalence of African refugia during the Toba incident. The most recent common ancestor shared by all living beings, dubbed Mitochondrial Eve, probably lived roughly 120–150 millennia ago. The research also located the origin of human migration in south-western Africa, near the coastal border of Namibia

Australian Aboriginal religion (also known as Dream time or Dreaming stories, songlines, or Aboriginal oral literature) …

The Djabugay language group's mythical being, Damarri, transformed into a mountain range, is seen lying on his back above the Barron River Gorge, looking upwards to the skies, within north-east Australia's wet tropical forested landscape.

Geological map of Australia

Australian carpet python, one of the forms the 'Rainbow Serpent' character may take in 'Rainbow Serpent' myths

Slaked lime holder, late 19th or early 20th century. The holder is decorated with wood carving of crocodile and bird. Details are emphasised with a white paint. The central portion, hollow to hold the slaked lime, is made of bamboo. The joints are covered with basketry work. The device is used in conjunction with chewing betel nut.

These implements were used only by men. At left, a spear-thrower (called woomera in the Eora language), and two examples of boomerangs. Boomerangs could be used for hunting (most were non-returning), or purely for music and ceremony.

Aboriginal women's implements, including a coolamon lined with paperbark and a digging stick. This woven basket style is from Northern Australia. Baskets were used for collecting fruits, corms, seeds and even water – some baskets were woven so tightly as to be watertight.

Aboriginal grinding stones - a pestle and mortar - vital in making flours for bush bread. Aboriginal women were expert at making bread from a variety of seasonal grains and nuts.

The prehistory of Australia is the period between the first human habitation of the Australian continent and the …

The map shows the probable extent of land and water at the time of the last glacial maximum and when the sea level was probably more than 150m lower than today; it illustrates the formidable sea obstacle that migrants would have faced.